International Journal of Yoga Therapy — No. 26 (2016) 55 Research Group-Based Yogic Weight Loss with Ayurveda-Inspired Components: A Pilot Investigation of Female Yoga Practitioners and Novices Tosca D. Braun, MA,1 Crystal L. Park, PhD,1 Amy A. Gorin, PhD1, Hilary Garivaltis, Jessica J. Noggle, PhD,2 Lisa A. Conboy, MA MS ScD3, 4 1. University of Connecticut, Department of Psychology, Storrs, CT 2. Emory University, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Atlanta, GA 3. Harvard Medical School, Osher Research Center, Department of Biomedicine, Boston, MA 4. New England School of Acupuncture, Newton, MA Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract a c ross all process variables we re medium (-0.4) to large (-1.8). % T BWL reached clinical significance (>5%) only at T3 for Introduction: Overweight/obesity is a pressing internation- the YWL-YE gro u p. C o n c l u s i o n s : The YWL curricula al health concern and conventional treatments demonstrate e m p l oyed here appear to improve psychosocial health among poor long-term efficacy. Preliminary evidence suggests yoga both ove r weight/obese yoga-experienced and yo g a - n a ï ve and Ayurveda may be promising approaches, although women. Results must be interpreted with caution due to study recent NHIS estimates indicate rare utilization of Ayurveda design, self-re p o rt assessments, and other limitations. No n e - in the US. Group-based curricula that integrate yoga and theless, hypotheses are generated for future inve s t i g a t i o n .